The Bill is amending legislation and its scope and content are a series of amending provisions identified by Historic Scotland and local government, during the course of discussions with stakeholders during 2007, which followed the publication of a report by the Historic Environment Advisory Council for Scotland on the need for a review of heritage legislation in Scotland.

Scottish Ministers concluded that what was required was a single, simple piece of legislation, with a limited scope, to amend three pieces of current primary legislation, The Historic Buildings and Monuments Act of 1953, the Ancient Monuments and Archaeology Areas Act of 1979 and the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act of 1997 all while protecting the core of the current system.

The Bill, published on 5 May, (see http://tinyurl.com/2w3zapu) will enhance the ability of central and local government to manage Scotland’s unique and irreplaceable historic environment, and will in particular support the Government’s Greener Strategic Objective and provide the regulatory authorities with a much-improved tool-kit to help manage, protect and enhance Scotland’s historic environment for future generations. It aims to harmonise aspects of the listing and scheduling systems and align them more closely with Scotland’s modernised planning regime; Improve the ability of central and local Government to work with developers and other partners; Improve the capacity to deal with urgent threats and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of deterrents; and help to ensure that Historic Scotland is able to meet the expectations of visitors in the 21st century.